Garnier Micellar water review

After reading many good reviews about Garnier's Micellar water I wanted to try it for myself, I was originally going to purchase it from Superdrug but I couldn't be bothered and I ended up getting it in wilkos (I always end up getting my beauty stuff in there), I was £5 for 400ml in Wilkos and £4.99 for 400ml in Superdrug, so there isn't much difference in price any ways. A lot of you are probably sick to death with hearing about about this product but I find it kind of interesting, I have used many different make up removers but Micellar isn't the same. Micellar water is basically micelle/micella oil molecules in a water formula which cleanses and cleans skin all whilst removing make up and dirt from your face, it does say there is no need to rinse but I personally use it and then wash my face with a face wash.

Since using this I have noticed a big difference in my face, but I'm not sure if it is down to the Micellar water removing all that dirt I may of missed or the Garnier shine be gone face wash I have been using (I will be reviewing that too). I love that it's a clear solution and basically looks like water with bubbles, it is hypo-allergenic which means it's unlikely to give someone an allergic reaction and suitable for sensitive skin which I have, It hasn't given me any problems yet. L'oreal sell their own version of Micellar water but its £3.33 for 200ml at boots and Simple's version is £4.49 for 200ml, seeing as its only around £5 for 400ml for Garnier's version I would say you get a lot more product for the price. It is a great alternative to the original Micellar water which is from Bioderma theirs retails from £10 and up but you can get a 500ml bottle from them. You can also get a travel version of some of the Micellar water's I have mentioned which is handy for going away with. 

Garnier's Micellar water states that you can get 200 uses out of it, I probably could get more out of it and I wish I kept count on how many times I have used it to see if I could actually do that. To apply I use cotton pads from wilkos, I just squirt some of the product on to the cotton pad then wipe around my face, I hold the cotton pad down on my eyes for 4 seconds then wipe to help remove the mascara, eyeliner or eye shadow, same goes for my lips. If you're using make up that is waterproof it isn't great at removing it but still does remove some of it, so I just end up washing my face with my face wash as I stated earlier and the rest of it comes off. 

Removing Avon lipstick in shade smooth plum, held the cotton pad with Micellar water on it for about 4 seconds and then wiped it and all the lipstick came off:

Removing eyeshadow in the shade Conker from Sleeks palette Au Naturel 601, wiped the eyeshadow twice with the cotton pad which had Micellar water on and it came off very easily:

I love how simple the bottle is, the solution does come out fast when I pour it out so I have to be careful I don't end up pouring too much out. This product does feel very much like a toner and I know some people use it as one, I have used this product on my boyfriend before actually, He shaved his beard off so I used it on him to remove any dirt left behind and it got the dirt off his face in no time (I should add that I also made him use my face wash after). I'm very happy with this product, I recommend it 100 times over, great for removing make up, dirt and cleaning your make up brushes!

Someone tried to scare me off because I was compeition.

Over a year ago now I was happily making my headbands for Garlands of Ellfi, mostly making them for family friends and I decided I would expand on what I made. So eventually I got hold of some beautiful glitter fabric and made glitter bows, these proved pretty popular with a lot of people which I was really pleased about. Then one day I was looking at my sisters hair in a bun and thought a bun topper would look cute in her hair so I had a go at making them. Little did I know that someone had been snooping on my social media and preparing a fake letter with advice from their solicitor to send to me. This letter scared me a lot, it wasn't sent by post instead it was sent by email and in the letter I was told I could carry on making and selling my flower garlands/headbands but I wasn't to make the glitter now hair clips, bun toppers or small flower headbands if I did further action would be took.

Alpaca artwork made by Carly Watts for me

I didn't know what to think when I got this email so I broke down crying, I eventually spoke to someone who assured me that this particular woman wasn't able to take further action against me as she didn't have the copyright to these products. I eventually emailed her back stating that I would carry on making them but would stop if she could provide me with the copyright paperwork. We went back and forth with emails and she just wouldn't back down nor would she show me the evidence. I carried on making them yet still got abuse from people who bought products from her shop. I don't wish to tarnish this persons name (a lot of you already know who she is) but I will say I spoke to a few other people/businesses who sold similar to what I was making, a few of them told me that the same person had tried it with them too which made me feel calmer, especially when they were being accused of the same thing as I was and told me not to worry it's just threats to scare us away.

A few of the things I made for Garlands of Ellfi

I had to stop making the garlands due to my health but eventually I plan on doing them again one day with matching bouquets, not sure when that one day will be yet. My advice to anyone who wants to start up making glitter hair bows or bun toppers or even small flower headbands is to just bloody do it, if someone says they have the copyright to these products ignore them and provide them with links to other companies that have been making these items way before her (I actually did this). Hundreds and thousands of companies make these products so if this one girl (who is far from a millionaire) had the copyright to these I would be very surprised! If you want to make headbands make sure you do stay away from actual copyright items too, such as Disney! Never run the risk of making and selling products that are Disney themed or actual Disney copies, because you could face a hefty fine. I don't know if anyone else has had a run in with a business over something as ridiculous as this (threatening someone with court action over items which aren't copyrighted to try and get rid of them as they are competition is ridiculous) but if someone does accuse you of copying their item try to consult with a professional even if it does cost you money it's better to know where you stand with these kinds of things, but if said item is already copyrighted to you provide proof that it is your unique idea or proof that the item/artwork you're selling is in fact yours.

How I back up my blogger posts/template.

I think it's important to back up your blog posts and templates in case something happens to your blog, I would hate to lose everything of mine on my blog seeing as I've put so much time and effort into it and my sister made my layout.Please remember though, I'm not an expert at any of this I literally went through all of my settings on my blogger to find out how to do this myself and thought I would share it with those who didn't know how to do it. 

1. How to save your template:

First go to blogger, you will see the name of your blog, then if you look along the same line you will see a button that says view blog, next to that is a drop down arrow click on it and scroll to the bottom where you will see template, click on template.

Once you have click on template you will see in the top right hand corner of the page you will see the option backup/restore, click on then and you will have the option of downloading full template or choosing a file from your computer, click on download full template and it will save as a xml file. If you wish to import your blog layout to your blog just follow the steps I have said and click on choose file from computer, find your xml file and import it.

2. Exporting your blog:
This is pretty easy go to the drop down arrow again and click on settings, once you get to settings click on other:

Once you have clicked on other you will see blog tools, you will see the options 'import blog, export blog, delete blog' click on export blog which will save your file as an xml file too. Make sure you get into the habit of backing up your blog posts and templates so you can save as much of your blog as you can in case anything goes wrong.

3. How to back up your blog posts/comments:

This is fairly easy to do, go to settings and instead of clicking on other you will see mobile and email, click on where it says that scroll down the page to where it says email and add your email in the two boxes 'comment notification email' and 'email posts to', this provides you with a copy of all your posts/comments that you have posted, so if they are every lost you have them in email form.

I hoped this helped anyone who wanted to know how to backup posts/templates on blogger!

Grief.

This is a subject I try to stay away from a lot of the time, as I end up in tears or an emotional wreck whilst talking about it, but I thought that writing about it would be easier than words coming out of my mouth. Grief isn't something that just one person can experience, everyone around the world deals with grief on a daily basis, some can get on with their daily lives whilst dealing with it but others can't function at all. Some people don't understand what grief is or what kinds of grief there are, so here is my little explanation of what grief is; Grief is a very strong and overwhelming emotion which some people are unable to process and deal with (I'm one of those people), It can stem from grieving a loved person who has left you to someone who is dying or has died. It can make you feel numb, alone or even unable to care for yourself and being able to function in daily life. Some people end up grieving after losing their job, it's a natural reaction to something that has impacted them in a bad way. Grief is not something you can get over, you can't give yourself a certain amount of time in which you will try to get over a loss, you have to learn to live with it and people can go their whole lives unable to deal with the pain and emotions, some even passing away from a broken heart (yes that's possible) because the pain is too much. 

I've had my fair share of grief in my life and one of the biggest impacts on my life was when my grandad passed away, I can remember exactly what my sisters and I were doing that day when my parents walked through the front door to tell us that he had passed away. First of all it felt like it wasn't real or wasn't true, but a few minutes later it hit me and I realised I had lost one of the most important people in my life. I was a teenager when my grandad passed and even though I was growing up he was always the person I was most excited to go and see, I wasn't interested in boys I just loved going to sit down in the living room with him and watch his war movies or detective programmes. For ages after he had passed I would forget that he wasn't with us no more and go and sit in my nan's living room thinking he was in there but then I would quickly realise he wasn't and my heart would sink. I miss him every single day of my life, the hurt and upset doesn't go away it's not something you can get over, it's something I have to learn to live with.

My grandad and me

Now I'm trying to deal with grieving for yet another baby that I wasn't able to carry on carrying in my womb, I'm not dealing with it very well I know I did a post a little while ago about what happened but my feelings have slowly started to build up because it's getting closer and closer to the day I may of given birth. A completely new and exciting life for me and James that just isn't going to happen and I'm trying my best to deal with that, I wanted to fill the pages with photos and lot's of memories of the baby book James got me...

I'm going to keep the book, it's too lovely to get rid of.

Instead of dealing with things by talking to people, I have been keeping my feelings to myself and letting everything build up more and more which is making me a pain in the butt (to put it bluntly) I don't want the way I'm feeling to effect my relationship with other people. I was able to let it all out to James over the weekend which has helped lift the heavy black cloud over my head, he reassures me that things will be better in time and I know that he is right but the reassurance only helps for a little while, so I'm just taking one day at a time and finding one good thing about my day that makes me smile. If you're struggling with grief and finding it hard to talk to people you know there is a site/app called 7 cups of tea , they are an emotional health and well being team who you can talk to anonymously about your problems in a one on one chat. There is a listener can connect to or you can browse listeners who you would like to talk to, you can even apply to become a listener and help others, I have used the service on a number of occasions most of them occasions are when people have gone to bed and I'm left alone with my thoughts, I highly recommend them to anyone who is dealing with any form of MH or grieving. 

Baker Days Cakes Letterbox Cake Review*

*I was sent this item free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Baker Days are an online/shop based cake company situated in Sherwood Forest, it was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur Alan Hawkes, they provide cakes for all kinds of occasions and can deliver cakes safely everywhere in the UK. Their cakes have been developed so the cakes themselves taste as if we ourselves have made them. They have just recently launched a cake called *the letterbox cake which is a small celebration cake for one or two people, you can have it personalised and choose what flavour you want it to be (just like their other cakes) but there is a twist, the letterbox cake can fit through your letterbox, which makes it a small and quirky gift to send!

They kindly sent me out my very own letterbox cake to review, with my blog logo on, I was so skeptical that it wouldn't fit through my letterbox but it actually did! When it arrived it came in a gorgeous little tin with the words 'Just for you' on the top, next to it were some candles and party accessories, they also included a cute little card. When I opened the tin the cake was inside a plastic protective bag (which is a brilliant idea) and there was a pull tab to raise the cake out of the tin making it easier to pop out rather than having to tip it upside down, I pulled the tab and the cake popped out smoothly and easily and then I opened the protective bag to see the cutest little cake with my blog logo on (although I could already see that with the cover on, I just could see if more clearly), the logo came out really clear and the exact colours which were used for the logo, I'm really impressed with how it looks on the cake.

I really didn't want to cut into it because of how adorable it was but I thought I should give it a taste, the sponge is vanilla flavoured and was the perfect texture, it didn't crumble and was very spongy and moist (I hate that word), it was also kept lovely and fresh thanks to the tin and the bag it came in, I'm not normally a big fan of icing but the icing on this cake was delicious, soft and not too sickly. I ended up taking the cake with me to my boyfriends landlords BBQ and the boys cut it into tiny pieces and gobbled it all up, they also pointed out that the Baker Days website was on the side of the cake which I never even noticed until they pointed it out to me I highly recommend these cakes, at £14.99 for your own customised letterbox cake you can't really go wrong can you! how lovely and yummy does it look!

Their larger cakes which come in small, medium and large (8-55 portions) you can also personalise these with your own message, upload your own photos or choose one of 500 of Bakerdays designs which you can have delivered the next day or have the option of pre-ordering, the prices range from £14.99 to £59.99. Bakerdays cakes are all handmade and they only use the best and tastiest ingredients, such as using their own buttercream with real butter, they don't use any cheap alternatives or any preservatives, they don't just provide cakes, they also bake cupcakes! If you need a company logo cake designed, Bakerdays are the place to go! If you need gluten free/wheat free/dairy free cakes they are more than happy to make and supply them for their customers. I love the idea of these sorry cakes, perfect for when I've got myself into hot water:

1. Sorry Cakes: Please Forgive Me // 2. Sorry Cakes: I'm Very Sorry

If you're worried about ordering a cake online and are one of those people who would rather go to a bakery near you don't fear, Bakerdays website is very easy to use and if you have any queries they're more than happy to help and put your mind at ease. All you have to do is choose a category, select the cake you would like (design, size recipe), buy or personalise then add your delivery details and checkout, it's as simple as that! Check them out:

SHOP//FB//TWITTER 

If you have something Important to say/ask and you're too afraid, why not say it with a cake!